Dispatches from The Wild Steelhead Coalition.....Check this Map Out!

Friends and fans of Wild Steelhead, please take a peek at this map, a status of steelhead populations across their historic range.

For me personally, my journey into advocacy for steelhead is about acquiring information to make me a more learn-ed fellow.  Basically I am hoping to learn enough to not sound like an idiot when I get all fired up and want to tell others why I am so passionate. 

What I am learning now about are the 15 different "Distinct Population Segments" of West Coast Steelhead.

A Snake River Basin Fish are not completely the same as a Oregon Coastal Fish.  Just looking at the separate journeys that these two distinct strains of fish have to make to get to their spawning grounds leads one to believe that these fish behave differently...at least a little...from the other. 

Ever hear of a one strain of steelhead being more "trouty" than others.  Another strain being renowned for being great fighters.  Yet another for distinct body shapes.  There you go, they've evolved to meet the challenges that their separate and distinct river systems have.

Right now, 12 of the 15 Distinct Population Segments are listed in bad shape.  Not good news eh?

Yes, the news isn't great, but join me in learning more by joining the Wild Steelhead Coalition.

It's a paltry $20 to join, and you gain an incredible bank of knowledge to help you help these fish.  

I just joined, it's time for you to do so as well

Discovery or Intimacy....What Drives you?

There's a run on my favorite river that I look forward to fishing more than any place in the world.  The subsurface structure coupled with correct flows usually end with a tight line.  It's a run I dream of when I have been away from the river for a long time.  There is comfort in knowing where to cast to, when to mend, even when to set the hook.  To say I know it intimately would be an understatement. 

At the same time, there is a drive of discovery.  The run around the bend and a river unfished will always hold the biggest fish of our minds.  From small brooks to imposing rivers, wonderlust gets us all. 



I think often of this when laying out an upcoming trip.  Do we return to the stage of former glory, or do we go on a trip  to new found lands and rivers on accord of a trip we overheard at the fly shop?

The place you know well means you know what fly to cast.  The place you dont know...you dont know where to cast in the first place.  Of course you know what productive water looks like but you lack the experience to know where it should all come together.

So it comes down to what drives you.  The thrill of a new spot, or the feeling of an old baseball glove on your hand of an old haunt.

For me, its a little bit of both depending on my mood and how long it's been since I've connected and felt a fish on the other end of the line.   If I am jonesing, it's a good bet I find my way to somewhere where I know what the game is about.  Other times, it's time to go down the road less traveled.

But what's it like for you.  What gets you excited on a Monday for a Saturday trip afield? 

OMR 2.0....Grinding out a beauty

Why Uncle Larry,  AKA OMR 2.0, you look cold. 

Well, I am sure your warming up now.   Holding onto lightening will do that to you.

Jack-Pot.  Congratulations OMR 2.0 on your first fly caught steelhead.  Princess nymphs are irresistable, at least to this beautiful wild hen.  The weather was uncooperative, but the Brothers Mills found success on a certain steelhead river in North Central Washington.

A quick photo op and back in the water asap to go along and fulfill her duty. 

Strong work Uncle Larry, strong work.

Wild Steelhead....Stop Eating it!

Pikes Street Fish Market.  Ray's Boathouse.  It's off their menus, and now it's time for all of us to continue to stand up and help get Wild Steelhead off the menu and offerings of any establishment

There is one place in the lower 48 where Wild Steelhead are taken and sold to market, and that's from the rivers of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The wild stock of these rivers while not listed on the Endangered Species Act, are severely depressed and taking of these fish is part of a an unsustainable

practice.  The tribes have a right to harvest the fish, but we can do our best to make it known how much impact it's having.

Add to the mix the confusion the difference between hatchery fish, farmed fish, unclipped hatchery fish and wild fish themselves....its no wonder why people dont know how to fight this issue.  It's hard to know where to start.

So right now, it's about information.  It's about education.  It's about raising some fundage to help the fight to protect these fish

Ladies and Gentlemen, I urge you to find your way to facebook and join the group by clicking here

Next, go here...http://www.allenflyfishing.com/products/wild-steelhead-stickers

and pick up a few stickers to show your support.  All profits will be to wild steelhead conservation efforts.

Allen Fly Fishing volunteered to fund this sticker effort to get it off the ground.  Kudos to then and their company.  They're not just a site sponsor for this blog, but they're good people.  Check them out.

Time to draw your own personal line in the sand....

Texts You Dont Want Receive While Sitting in Cubicle-land

It's Monday, 9am and I am knee deep in getting the work week rolling.

Emails are being shot out, faxes are coming in.  New shit is coming to light and my desk rumbles with the report of a text received. 

Its my buddy Joe, AKA, Chewbacca, AKA Toby Keith of the OP, AKA Mr Evolution Anglers. 

"(Angler Name Omitted) just released some lower Hoh chrome at (specific run name omitted) "

And so begins a series of texts that I'd rather not get again.  Never.  Ever. 

Then this comes in

"Hooked 3 so far"

Oh really,  thanks for the update and my tie becomes a little more tight. 

And then the clincher.  If this was mortal combat, this would be the kill shot and the game would proclaim "flawless victory"

"Just swung the best steelhead of my life"

Oh really, great.  Good for you.  Thanks for ruining my day

3 weeks to go till our sojourn to the Holy Land of Steelhead and Team Jacob.   Mid March can't come fast enough.

Still considering coming out to the OP, I highly, highly suggest you book a trip with Joe from Evolution Anglers.  Joe and the Brazda Crew work hard, fish hard and plain do it right.   They might or might not have a couple of select openings before the season is done.  If I were you, I'd jump on it brosef.  

You wont regret it

I fully anticipate 3 weeks of texts to continue to come until I am sitting in Joe's boat. 

FCB.

A Life Well Lived--The Clay Steelhead Clan

A Steelhead Family - Official HD video 3.1 from Andrew Hardingham on Vimeo.

An exceptional film that chronicles the good life lived by the Clay family on the Kispiox River in BC.

This is a must watch video

Thanks Skate the Fly...I feel so honored

See, all you have to do is ass hook a sucker while fishing for steelhead and you too can win big prizes.

At about the 10 minute mark, you'll see what I am talking about.

Episode #5 from Dyland and Dave at Skate the Fly TV

Good Sheet Mang...